Wool: Suggested Resources and Gift Ideas
WOOL GIFTS FOR THE SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS: The wool in The North Face’s Cali Wool Beanie comes from a Northern California sheep ranch dedicated to methods of land management that are proven to regenerate the soil instead of depleting it. This allows the land to “sequester” carbon in the land, which slows climate change. There isn’t…
Our Second Artisanal Gift Guide
The word artisanal has become so shopworn that it’s almost devoid of meaning. (To wit: we once saw a pizza outlet on the outskirts of a small town in northern France that was fashioned in the style of an ATM-kiosk under the following sign: “Artisanal Pizza.”) In stark contrast to this sorry state of affairs, we would like to suggest a few items for holiday shopping made by some of the masters we profiled in 2016.
By SHARON TILLEY
Amarone: The Slow Wine of Valpolicella
There are many prized vintages from Valpolicella, a postcard-perfect town near Verona, Italy, known for its rich, slightly sweet wines. Over the years, however, as many of these wines have gotten only sweeter, one vineyard, Bertani, has remained true to the old traditions. The result: a complex, unusually balanced wine called Amarone. Our wine correspondent sets out in search of its secret.
By TIM TEICHGRAEBER
A Visit to La Esquina, Mexico’s Folk Art Toy Museum
“La Esquina” Museo del Juguete Popular Mexicano, a terracotta-colored colonial house on a corner of San Miguel de Allende, is the only museum in Mexico dedicated to the country’s folk art toys. Angélica Tijerina started the collection 50 years ago, when her parents began bringing home dolls and toys from their travels all over Mexico.…
Can Pátzcuaro and Surrounding Colonial Crafts Towns Survive Modern Mexico?
In the 1500s, a Spanish bishop turned a collection of pueblos around the Mexican town of Patzcuaro into a center for craftsmanship. The people here are still making and marketing their wares in much the same way they did hundreds of years ago. Now they have to overcome tourists’ fears about drug traffickers, real or not.
Story by LAURA FRASER
Photography by JANET JARMAN
An Artisanal Tour of Michoacán — with 18 Towns Devoted to Ancient Crafts
It’s difficult, if not impossible, to find the indigenous artists outside of Pátzcuaro without a guide. We went with Jaime Hernández Balderas, from animecha tours, animechatours@yahoo.com. He is a native of Pátzcuaro, knowledgeable about the history and crafts, and speaks excellent English. Expect to pay about 2000 pesos a day for a guide ($120). Local…
